Return
by LauraMaeH94
Summary: After the Senate inquiry, Prentiss is not in a good way. An alarming phone call to JJ is all it takes for her friend to realise how much trouble she is in. Written in 2013, and only just re-found.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I honestly don't know where this idea came from but, it came, and it wouldn't leave so I wrote it down. Hope you enjoy it. Please R &R.**

The warm water dripped down her face, droplets falling from her eyelashes. She blinked them away, thus completing her nightly routine. With Henry asleep and Will sitting in the living room reviewing his latest case she could now sink into her pillow and study the back of her eyelids – something that she didn't seem to be able to do very often lately. Since the team's hearing with the Senate regarding their actions on the Doyle case, their piles of paperwork had seemingly tripled. Apparently serial killers were aware of this as they seemed to be killing much more frequently as of late, making everyone's job that much harder.

As he head hit the soft pillow, she let out a sigh. It was quiet, the way she liked it. Growing up in a rural community she was used to the quiet. It didn't scare her. In fact, she found it rather soothing. Just as she was about to settle back into the mattress her phone rang with a familiar tune. She knew who it was. She hadn't changed the tone since she had returned. She should probably do that sometime soon.

Reaching over to grasp the device she could feel herself stretching out the relaxation that she had previously held. She hit the accept button and spoke.

"Hey Em."

"The eagle flies at dawn. I repeat, the eagle flies at dawn."

"What? … Emily? Prentiss are you there?"

Only a dial tone sounded.

After hitting recall a few times, to no avail, J.J. conceded that she needed to find her friend. She wished that she could just roll over and forget the weird conversation. However, if experience had taught her anything it was not to ignore things like this. Things like this were often a cry for help or an indication of something more sinister. In fact, not only could J.J. not ignore the phone call, she had to make sure that she got to her friend pronto.

The only problem was that she had no idea where she was located. Hitting speed-dial number 3, J.J. rose and stepped into the hallway.

Garcia answered, voice groggy but coherent. "I'm awake, I'm here. What's up?"

"Hey Garcia, it's Jay. I need you to track Prentiss' mobile."

"Is everything okay?"

"Probably, I just need to find her. That's all."

"Jayje, you're scaring me."

"Garcia, I promise that I would tell you if something was wrong. I just got a funny message. Can you just find her phone for me please."

"Yeah, I've got it up on my screen now. According to the phone's signal she is, oh, she's in her apartment Jay."

"Great thanks Garcia."

"Anytime. Jay-Je?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me know if you need me."

"I promise."

"Okay. Stay safe."

"Will do."

The conversation ended as J.J. stepped onto the street. She had managed to let Will know where she was going before taking the stairs down to the main courtyard. The cool night air whipped around her form as she slid into the driver's seat of her Bureau-issued SUV.

…

"No, no, get out! I said 'dawn'! It's not dawn! I need more time! You have to leave before he finds you! I have to get someone to safety!"

"Who? Wha-Emily, what the Hell is going on?"

"Just get out. I'll be ready in the morning. We can still bring him down, Tsia. You just need to give me another eight hours. Just eight more hours Tsia!"

"Tsia? Emily, it's me. It's J.J. It's Jennifer. Emily?"

There was silence as the cogs turned quickly in the blonde's head. Finally it clicked. The weird phrase, the mysterious person that she had to save, Tsia. Emily was having a flashback; an episode of P.T.S.D. She must have thought that she was…

"Lauren? Lauren Reynolds?"

Emily stopped what she was doing. She stalled, staring straight ahead. "Lauren Reynolds is dead." A beat and then, "no, not yet. Not yet Lauren. Just eight more hours. Only eight hours to go."

"Shit," J.J. mumbled under her breath. She was not prepared for this. She was not prepared to face this. What if something she said made it worse? What if she hurt her friend more then she already had? Afterall, it was her decision that landed Prentiss in Paris; that forced her to leave without a goodbye.

 **A/N: Please R &R.**


	2. Chapter 2

She had it sorted. Finally, she had it sorted. She was going to get out of here. She was going home.

And he was going to be safe. To be honest, she really didn't care about leaving. As long as the 'package' got out safely she didn't care. She just had to get him out safely.

She had so much to do though. So much to sort out. She needed more time.

A shaking hand reached out and took a firm hold on the phone sitting nearby. She flipped it open and hit speed dial number '5', thus calling a number that she knew by heart.

When the dial tone stopped she began talking, not even waiting for an answer, although she got one.

She didn't pay attention to the crackly greeting, instead opting to deliver her message.

"The eagle flies at dawn. I repeat, the eagle flies at dawn."

She closed the phone, leaving the person on the other end with nothing but a dial tone in their ear.

She threw the phone to the side, knowing full well that she only had a matter of hours before the operation was due to wrap up.

…

Lauren must have gotten wrapped up in her own thoughts because the next thing she knew her partner was on her doorstep. She couldn't believe her eyes. Surely dawn had not come that quickly. She still had to do the final extraction. She wasn't finished. The 'package' wasn't safe!

"No, no, get out! I said 'dawn'! It's not dawn! I need more time! You have to leave before he finds you! I have to get someone to safety!"

She saw the other woman begin to protest and she made the conscious choice to shut it down completely.

"Just get out. I'll be ready in the morning. We can still bring him down, Tsia. You just need to give me another eight hours. Just eight more hours Tsia!"

Then, as if trying to really test her patience, the clearly mentally challenged woman said her name.

"Lauren? Lauren Reynolds?"

She glared at the woman. She knew this.

"Lauren Reynolds is dead."

A moment passed before she realised what she had just said. "No, not yet. Not yet Lauren. Just eight more hours. Only eight hours to go."

She heard the smaller woman swear under her breath but paid little attention.

She had to get the 'package' out.

She needed Tsia to leave.

But she didn't understand why she wouldn't. Why wasn't Tsia listening to her? If that woman screwed the mission up, screwed up this extraction, well, then that pretty little head may just go missing.

She walked to her, grasping her shoulders. The woman hissed in pain but Lauren didn't care. She had to get rid of the woman, she had to get the 'package' to safety.

She pushed the smaller woman out of the door, ignoring her frenzied protests. Slamming the door and locking it, she turned and leaned heavily. That was more effort then she had thought.

Something that the woman outside was saying caught her attention. No, not something. A name. Someone.

She turned her head into the door, so that her ear was pressed heavily on the wood, listening for the name that had stopped her in her tracks.

"Declan is safe. Lauren, Declan is safe. You don't have to pretend anymore. He is safe."

She opened the door just a crack, one of her dark brown eyes peaking out and catching deep blue ones.

"He's safe?"

A sigh. "Yes honey. He is safe."

The door opens a bit more.

"I got him out?"

"Yes, you got him out."

She blinked, once. Twice. Three times. And then it happened. A flash and she sunk. A flash and she was Emily. A flash and then she remembers everything. A flash and then she sees nothing.

….

J.J. fought the woman as she took a vice-like grip on her shoulders and pushed her towards the open door. She tried her best to overpower the woman she knew as her friend, but she was just too strong. She looked into the woman's frantic eyes, seeing no ounce of familiarity in them.

As the door was slammed in her face she could not help the emotions that began to overflow. She simply stood there, banging her hand lightly against the hard wood she called out to the woman she knew was standing on the other side.

"Lauren, he's safe. Declan's safe. I know it is hard to understand but Declan is safe honey. Declan is safe. Lauren, Declan is safe. You don't have to pretend anymore. He is safe."

There was a click as the lock was released. She stepped back, just a bit, and watched as the door cracked open.

A wide, frantic eye peaked out of the gap, and a small voice asked for reassurance.

She gave it.

The crack grew bigger and the woman was drawn back into reality.

"I got him out?" The voice was weak, nothing like that of her friend.

She reassured her friend once more.

The dark eyes blinked a handful of times before finally widening, recognition filling them.

The door opened fully to reveal a confused woman, slightly hunched in exhaustion.

"Jayje?"

"Emily?"

"I got him out. I did it Jay. I got him out. I...I saved Declan?"

"Yeah honey, you did. You got him out. You saved hi-"

J.J. was unable to finish her sentence as she watched the form in front of her crumble. First, the big brown eyes rolled backwards. Next, the woman's body swayed. And finally, her knees buckled.

The blonde reacted just in time to grasp the woman's middle before her knees hit the ground, however was unable to stop herself as she fell sideways into the wall, caught off balance by the other woman's quick descent.

She slowly, yet awkwardly, lowered the two of them down the wall, cushioning their eventual collapse.

Breathing heavily, she repositioned them so that she was gently cradling the taller woman in her arms. Rocking back and forth slowly, J.J. stroked her friend's raven hair. Although slightly greasy, it was soft, and the entire motion reminded her so much of when she used to rock Henry to sleep.

She leaned down and whispered in the woman's ear, hoping beyond hope that she could hear her.

"You did good sweetie. You did good."


End file.
